1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disc apparatus for, for example, a CD and a DVD.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a commonly used disc apparatus (for example, see JP-A-2002-100099, JP-A-6-119698, JP-A-6-338119 and JP-A-2001-216702), a disc tray (tray) is opened or closed (unloading/loading) at a slit-shaped entrance which is provided in a front panel of an exterior housing by driving force of a driving motor.
Generally, the disc apparatus includes a switch (tray open switch) for detecting whether the tray is opened completely, in order to stop the operation of the driving motor for driving the disc tray, when the disc tray is opened (when the opening of the tray is completed).
In addition, there can be different types of disc apparatuses, such as a disc apparatus in which a stopper or the like is provided in the vicinity of a slit-shaped entrance and in which the operation of the driving motor is stopped when the tray comes into contact with the stopper, as disclosed in JP-A-6-338119, and a disc apparatus in which the operation of the driving motor of the disc tray is stopped after a predetermined time elapsed, as disclosed in JP-A-2001-216702.
However, in the case in which the tray open switch is provided in the disc apparatus, the tray open switch must be provided at a position where the tray open switch does not obstruct the operation of an OPU (optical pickup unit) and the driving motor. That is, since the tray open switch is provided in a limited space inside the disc apparatus, which causes the flexibility of the design to be lowered. Further, it is required to provide, for example, a dedicated printed circuit board for controlling the tray open switch, which causes the flexibility of the design to be further lowered.
In addition, the provision of the tray open switch increases the number of components which constitute the disc apparatus, resulting in an increase in the manufacturing costs of the disc apparatus.
Also, in the movement control of the disk tray by time control, it is common to set the time longer than the required time in order to prevent the disc tray from stopping in the middle of an opening operation. In addition, many disc apparatuses include a stopper which is provided in the vicinity of the slit-shaped entrance to stop the disc tray when the disc tray comes into contact with the stopper. Therefore, the disc tray does not stop smoothly, and thus a high-quality operation cannot be performed.